Ent of Australian Caves 204 by J.N
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"�m time immemorial caves have attracted man. The unusual .form ations, the menacing narrowness and the dim insufficient light become, through the force of imagination, part of a mysterious, almost magical and sometimes sinister whole. There is a natural law in man which dictates that he should strive after knowledge, advance with inquiring mind into new territory, whether it be spiritual or material; and cave research is one element of man's desire to know and understand his environment. Under the Earth's crust there exists an enormously great world where secrets await their unveiling, and speleology is a branch of science which opens up this world to provide revelations of chronological, geological and sociological importance. These underground wonders, however, belong to all men, and after the initial discovery and surveying of caves have been completed, the public at large is entitled to share in the beauties below, even if only to a limited extent." -W.L. Brennan NSW Department of Tourism This special issue of AUSTRALIAN NATURAL HI STORY is devoted to various aspects of caves and caving-the field of speleology -in Australia. JUNE 1975 VOLUME 18 NUMBER 6 PUBLISHED QUARTERLY BY THE AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM, 6-8 COLLEGE STREET, SYDNEY AUSTRAUANPRESIDENT, Ml�HAEL PITMAN DIRECTOR, FRANK TALBOTNATURAl HISTORY '. j' . LIME, LIMESTONE AND THE FIRST CAVES 190 BYE.A. LANE . i://�-•. CLIMBING AND CRAWLING THROUGH SUBTERRANEA 196 % BY ANDREW PAVEY AND NEIL MONTGOMERY f··. .,:.· .,i.. r... · . · . ,--,r. / MINERAL DECORATIONS 196 �·-· . ·. � -� \ , . NATURES CAVE ART '• .. • BY JULIA M. JAMES •• . t . THE FORMATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF AUSTRALIAN CAVES 204 BY J.N. JENNINGS RECONSTRUCTING THE PAST 208 EXCAVATIONS IN FOSSIL CAVES BY ROD WELLS SPELEOCHRONOLOGY: THE STORY IT TELLS 212 BY CLIFF OLLIER CAVES AND ABORIGINAL MAN 216 COVER: The Grand Fissure BY SANDRA BOWDLER in Exit Cave, Tasmania. ECOSYSTEMS UNDERGROUND 220 (Photo: A. Pavey) BY J.A. HARRIS ABOVE: A helictite in the 'Gem of the South' formation, THE HEAVY HAND OF MODERN MAN 226 Temple of Baal, Jenolan, BY JOHN DUNKLEY AND LUDWIG REIDER NSW. EDITOR/DESIGNER NANCY SMITH Annual Subscription: $4.50-Australia; $5-New Zealand and New ASSISTANT EDITOR Guinea; $6-other countries. Single copies: $1 ($1.33 posted ROBERT STEWART Australia); $1 .45-New Zealand and New Guinea; $1.70-other CIRCULATION countries. Cheque or money order payable to The Australian Museum should be sent to The Secretary, The Australian Museum, ROYHELM PO Box A285, Sydney South 2001. Overseas subscribers please note EDITORIAL COMMITTEE that rates are to be paid in Australian currency. HAROLD COGGER Opinions expressed by the authors are their own and do not KINGSLEY GREGG necessarily represent the policies or· views of The Australian MICHAEL GRAY Museum. PATRICIA McDONALD 'RECOMMENDED RETML PRICE INTERNATIONAL STANDARD SERIAL NUMBER 0004-9&40 189 LIM�,I LIMESTONE AND THE FIRST CAVES BYE.A. LANE he foundations of Sydney, and of Australia, began on January 26, 1788 when the first Tparty of soldiers and convicts under Governor Arthur Phillip landed at Sydney Cove to estab lish a penal settlement. Within a few months of its establishment, Sydney's buildings were being constructed of brick, suitable clay having been found close to the new town. However, the shortage of lime for mortar was desperate. Only by the slow and laborious process of collecting shells around the shore and burning them could a little lime be produced. In October 1804, Governor Philip King des patched an expedition under the Lieutenant Governor, Colonel William Paterson, to estab lish a settlement at Port Dalrymple, near the mouth of the River Tamar in the north of Van Dieman's Land (Tasmania). In his first report to Governor King at the end of December 1804, Paterson told of the discovery, among other building materials, of abundant quantities of limestone in the area "a boon hitherto denied the Territory". This first discovery of limestone in Australia was most important as lime could now be produced in Ta'smania and shipped to Sydney. However, limestone had still to be discovered on the main land, and a generation of explorers to come made a point of reporting all such occurrences. The records tell us of the first limestone dis coveries in Australia, but what were the first cave areas reported? Which was the first cave actually discovered? Despite considerable documentation, the evidence allows substantial room for speculation. The lines of exploration relevant to our investigation lie south and west of Sydney. On March 3. 1818, a party of explorers led by the surgeon and explorer Charles Throsby and surveyor James Meehan, set out from Liver pool, near Sydney, in the hope of discovering an overland route to Jervis Bay. The young explorer, Hamilton Hume, not yet 21 years old, accompanied the party at the request of Gov ernor Lachlan Macquarie because of his Watercolour previous journeys of exploration to the Berrima of Wombeyan Caves, painted in 1872 by Conrad E.A. LANE, Director of Information Services, Aus Martens-from tralian Atomic Energy Commission, is a member of the original paint several speleological associations and Editor of ing in The Dixson Helictite, the Jo urnal of Australasian Cave Research. Galleries, Sydney. VOLUME 18 NUMBER 6 191 district and beyond. On March 25, finding having been informed by a settler that br confronted with the gorges of_ !he of th_e _Shoalhaven River n h themselves was nearby, he\ � c Marulan, the exped1t1on to v1s1t the area especia ecide Shoalhaven River near lly as he w d o I d Pa divided into two parties. Throsby went over "a curiously perforated ss Ca� areo downstream and managed to find his way to Country - the limestone extending � us N �t Jervis Bay. Meehan and Hume worked upstream to the great Ravines of the erly above-�en � 1 (south) along the high land west of the river." 0ned Shoalhaven. Describing_ the visit, he said: "We foun whether the point of division land exceeding cavernous, d th e It is uncertain orifices fou area of r fe et reached by the explorers in this wild diameter connected with capacio . us SUb- towering limestone cliffs and narrow ravines terranean E xcavat ions, appeared in every Part bordering the Shoalhaven River was in the vicin of the Forestland, of whom som . e presen t ity of Jerrara Creek or Bungonia Creek. Suffice yawning. f 1ssure� of app�rently ed great de th to say that they were in limestone country and whilst others again _had the1�.ap p ertures or mouth the way had been opened for the early discovery nearly closed up with earth . He continued th of the Bungonia Caves. their local guide conducted a t the party to a lar In November 1820, Governor Macquarie cavern. Bei_ng without lights . , they did n�� issued an order permitting graziers to take their venture far inside but were still able to see th cattle to the Marulan district with tickets of abrupt and perpendicular chasm in what is no: occupation. However, because of delays, the known as the Drum Cave. earliest permits were not granted until 1822. Although first written record of the Photograph Areas were soon occupied around the present Bungonia Caves is dated Apri I 27, 1824, the ca of a steam township of Bungonia and along the heights ves obvious driven electric ly were discovered before that, perhap flanking Bungonia Creek, the nearest property s as early dynamo in the as 1819 or 1820. In May 1823, Captain Grand Arch, being only a short distance from the present Mark Currie, R.N., (army) Captain John Jenolan Caves, Caves Reserve. Ovens and NSW, taken in 1886. bushman Joseph Wild set out from Bong The first report of a cave exploration at Bong This electric near Moss Vale for the country south of plant is believed Bungonia was made by the botanist and explor Lake George. They crossed the Limestone Plains to be one of the er, Allan Cunningham, while returning from a (the world's first perm early name for the pastoral land near the Journey south of Lake George. He wrote in anent installations Molonglo and Queanbeyan Rivers where out sed for lighting caves. his journal under the date April 27, 1824 that, crops of limestone occur) and finally discovered the Monaro Plains. On the return journey, they discovered 'London Bridge', south of the present town of Queanbeyan. Here Burra Creek has cut through a belt of exposed limestone toform "a natural bridge of one perfect Saxon arch". In October 1824, an exploration party con sisting of Hamilton Hume, retired sea captain William Hilton Hovell and six other men set outfrom Hume's station near the present town of Gunning to travel overland from the settled areas of New South Wales to Bass Strait. They proceeded on a southwesterly course n across the south of the present tow plains , ' of Yass later naming them the M Douga ll s Plains f;om the family name of Lady Brisbane, area wife of the Governor, though calli ng t�e r al. by The Aboriginal name "Yarrh" in their iou � tin_ They crossed the Murrumbidgee, no � ssi · frequent occurrences of large outcrops of fo . hwest, re· 1ferous limestone, continue· d sout . es, this joining the Murrumbidgee after some mil the opposi te time noting high limestone cliffs on n betwee bank. (This area probably 1•ies nrnued Goodhope and Narrangullen.) They c� \ · eno d callY for some days on a 21 -zag ourse ' p � � October mentioning limestone 1n their n tes. � be the 28, they reached what I believe �� Y HISTOR NATURA L AUSTRALIAN . ' .;. ,,t,i\''l\')!;>.,4',;�<!::llt, 'll"�I» 'X'lll.:>1!:o )CJ:slll.G;,g ll'll' C,,.T:i<l.);11' • 'fll?l!ll�ll.ti0.1'G'll'-,»' 'l'JliX,lJ,'J&�..